Rajasthan: Police seize Rs. 200 crore worth of election 'freebies'
Since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct in Rajasthan on October 9, the state police has confiscated election "freebies" valued at Rs. 200 crore, PTI reported. Inspector General of Police Vikas Kumar said that so far his 12-officer-strong team has recovered Rs. 25 crore in cash, liquor worth Rs. 20 crore, and jewelry and gold worth Rs. 20 crore. Kumar has launched "STORM CLUB" ahead of the polls to prevent voters from being unlawfully swayed by candidates.
What all was seized during the vigil?
Apart from the cash, drugs valued at Rs. 60 crore, gasoline, diesel, and unlawfully stored fertilizers intended to influence voters were seized in various districts. Separately, illegal weapons and ammunition were discovered by the police. Under Operation MONACO, at least 650 checkposts, with unique codes and monitoring, have been set up across Rajasthan. Assembly elections in Rajasthan are scheduled to be held on November 25, while the results will be out on December 3.
About Operation MONACO
Operation MONACO (Monitoring of Nakas Augmented with Coded Operation) of the Rajasthan Police entails the establishment of 650 coded checkpoints throughout the state, which are continuously monitored in a war room. The STORM CLUB, which stands for Supervision, Tracking, Operation, Recordkeeping, Monitoring, Control and Command, Liaison and Unified Base, is in charge of this task.
Rajasthan Police offers rewards for seizures
Kumar, Rajasthan police's nodal officer to the Election Commission for expenditure monitoring, mentioned that the department has initiated reward schemes for officers or naka parties responsible for seizures. "We have registered several cases for the seizures done as all of them were meant for election campaigning in the state," he said. During the previous assembly elections in Rajasthan, the seizure of "freebies" totaled Rs. 65 crore.
ED in action before assembly elections
On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in connection with a foreign exchange violation case. The CM called it a political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre and accused it of hindering the state government's progress. The central agency also raided several locations, including Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara's premises, in connection with an alleged case of leaked question papers for the recruitment of government school teachers.
Congress releases 1st list of candidates
The Congress Party released its first list of 33 candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections on October 21. State CM Gehlot will contest from Sardarpura, while former deputy CM Sachin Pilot will contest from Tonk. It is pertinent to note that the state elections (in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Mizoram, and Chhatisgarh) are largely seen as a litmus test for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
